Deconstructing the September 4 Plebiscite in Chile

WTF is Going on in Latin America & The Caribbean

GUESTS:

Patricio Zamorano, Co-Director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs which is also a WTF broadcast partner. Patricio is Chilean born and has been living in the US for 20 years. He voted at the Chilean Embassy in Washington DC on Sunday.

Alondra Carrillo Vidal, member of the Chilean Constitutional Convention and spokesperson for Coordinadora Feminista 8M

BACKGROUND:

On Sunday, September 4, Chileans overwhelmingly voted against a proposed new constitution rejecting what would have been one of the world's most progressive charters.

While nearly 80% of Chileans voted to draft a new constitution in 2020, nearly 62% of voters rejected the new text with 99.74 percent of ballot boxes counted.

Karol Cariola, spokeswoman for the approval campaign, conceded defeat late on Sunday night in downtown Santiago but said the mandate to draft a new text remains in force.

President Gabriel Boric, whose government is largely tied to the new text, said cabinet changes were coming and the government would work to draft another constitution.

The proposed text that voters rejected was a response to widespread violent protests that gripped the nation in late 2019 and focused on social rights, the environment, gender parity and indigenous rights, a sharp shift from its market-friendly constitution dating back to the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

FOLLOW OUR GUESTS:

Patricio Zamorano https://twitter.com/ZamoranoInfo

Javiera Mazi https://twitter.com/JavieraManzi

In partnership with Common Frontiers Council on Hemispheric Affairs Friends of Latin America Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas, WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean broadcasts weekly on CODEPINK YouTube Live. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Telegram and RadIndieMedia.com